A place of retreat for this mother of seven (currently fighting Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer) to speak on the joys and challenges of life for a Catholic family immersed in American culture.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Joey's Jeep Justified

Jay has always wanted to have a "project car". He is always on the lookout for something that he can work on with the kids in order to teach them about automotive repair, money management, satisfaction in doing work well, independence, perseverance, etc. He still hasn't found the car that he hopes Sam will eventually drive after working on it for a few years, but when Joey got his 1990 Jeep Wrangler in January it ended up fitting the bill.

A few weeks ago, the drive shaft cracked in the Jeep, rendering it undrivable. (Luckily, we still have the truck Joey drove before the Jeep entered his life, so he was able to carry on.) Joey and Jay assessed the damage, watched some videos on YouTube, and ordered the necessary parts. While waiting for the parts, Joey read the Jeep repair manual and figured out what he needed to do.

The last part arrived today. When Jay was unable to help him get started right away, Joey began the work himself. Sam and Tony watched (and assisted when needed). After three hours or so, long after the younger boys abandoned ship, he came upstairs and happily showed us his repair. This was not a simple replacement. Please understand that I know very little about car engines, but it involved U Joints, grease, transfer case housing, bushings and other assorted parts.

Joey had little experience before today with complex auto repair, so needless to say we were very impressed by his motivation and tenacity. When he ran into a problem with some roller bearings he figured it out on his own. Now he understands that he can learn how to fix pretty much anything by finding a "how-to" YouTube video on the subject, and that is a gift that keeps on giving.Joey's